


In the Eye of the Storm

by an_actual_ocean



Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen, Kinda?, Pre-Canon, Self-Insert, like really pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2019-07-03 00:31:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15807660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/an_actual_ocean/pseuds/an_actual_ocean
Summary: Reiko’s soul wasn’t always Reiko’s. This has some unfortunate consequences. Namely, dying. Again.





	1. An Introduction

A soul is snuffed out, but centuries in the past and a dimension or two away a nearly identical soul comes into existence. Moriyama Reiko was born to Moriyama Ryuunosuke and Kirika during monsoon season, the worst one seen in years. “A bad omen,” villagers say.

That’s not the only thing strange about Reiko. Her eyes are a light shade of silver, which confused both of her parents at first. After all, everyone in that village, and the region as a whole, either has black or dark brown eyes.

At first people thought Reiko was blind, both because of her silver eyes and her penchant for staring into space. Unknown to her parents and the rest of the villagers, Reiko saw other people around her in the empty space, recently deceased villagers. Of course, the girl wouldn’t realize what she was seeing for a very long time.

 

Ryuunosuke about had a heart attack when Reiko started walking around a year into her life. Previously, she had been thought developmentally behind due to the fact Reiko was a very quiet child. 

The reason Reiko had for being as quiet as she was, was actually the exact opposite. Her mental capacity was unusual for a child, more like a teenager’s in all actuality. Reiko is gradually learning the language, ‘Japanese’, a voice in her head whispers, but she feels an acute sense of embarrassment when she gets a word or phrase wrong. ‘A side effect,’ the voice figures. A side effect of what, Reiko never finds out. Or at least not for a very long time.

 

Reiko finally speaks at age three. In full, comprehensive sentences, much to her parents’ bemusement. The fact that her first words happen to be “Father, Mother, why does no one notice the people with the chains in their chest,” worries them, however.

“Reiko, sweetheart, there’s nobody like that around,” Kirika says gently. Reiko frowns, but leaves the subject alone at the voice’s behest. 

 

At four, Reiko learns that her father is a samurai, and a rather influential one at that. The way she learns happens to be rather traumatizing, however.

“Well, if it isn’t the Moriyama brat,” a large man growls as he grabs her off the street by her long, black hair. The villagers shrink away from the group of apparent bandits.

Reiko cries out in pain as the man shakes her roughly. “Boys, we have now some leverage over that samurai scum,” he laughs loudly to his cohorts.

“Leverage over whom?” Ryuunosuke practically glides onto the scene, hand on his katana. A serene expression at odds with tension cording his entire body crawls across his face as he asks, “You can’t actually believe I’ll allow you to hold my daughter over my head, can you?” 

The man growls in rage and holds a knife to Reiko’s neck, she stills and starts to sob. ‘Shh,’ the voice whispers, ‘it’ll be okay.’ Ryuunosuke’s eyes narrow as he leaps forward.

Ryuunosuke’s blade slits the man holding Reiko’s throat before he can react. Reiko falls into her father’s arms as the other man collapses. Tears fill the girl’s eyes as Ryuunosuke holds her to his chest. He eyes the rest of the bandits threateningly, and they flee.

A day later finds a very confused Reiko standing in the yard of her house, facing her father. “Reiko, we can’t have a repeat of last time.” He throws her a wooden sword, ‘bokken,’ the voice supplies. Reiko fumbles, then catches it.

“So,” Ryuunosuke continues, “I’ll be teaching you to defend yourself in a manner appropriate for the daughter of a samurai.” Then, he begins to lead Reiko through the first kata.

 

A year might not seem to be such a long time, but it allows for the incredible growth of Reiko’s Spirit Sight. Instead of vague, blurry people that are almost transparent, Reiko sees corporeal beings that she can only tell apart from live people by the chain on their chest. 

She uses the term Spirit Sight, because she realized what the people she could see but no one else could were. Spirits. Reiko firmly ignores the muttered ‘finally’ in the back of her mind. She hasn’t quite figured out what the voice was, and when Reiko asked for a name the voice laughed and told her that she wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Under Ryuunosuke’s tutualage, Reiko was able to progress with her swordsmanship. Not at the prodigious rate Reiko seemed to be able to learn how to read and write, much to her father’s displeasure, but it’s still progress.

Ryuunosuke also begins to teach Reiko how to defend herself weaponless. “You won’t have a blade on you every minute of every day, Reiko.” He told her. ‘A useful sentiment,’ the voice agrees.

 

Age seven marks the beginning of the end. Reiko’s Spirit Sight improves even more and she begins to hear strange howls in the night. They send shivers down her spine and even when prompted the voice stays silent on the matter. However, Reiko knows the voice has some idea of the creature causing it.

Kirika also becomes pregnant again. Reiko tries to feel excited, she really does, but there’s always an underlying feeling of jealousy of her unborn brother or sister. It’s just that her father is so excited by the prospect of a son and her mother caught up in her father’s joy, that they neglect to look beyond the mask Reiko puts on. It’s not to say that Reiko thinks that they’re bad parents, because they’re most definitely not, just that she wishes they’d be a bit less busy.

As a result, Reiko began to wander the woods surrounding the village, despite the strange howling noises. Either that, or to spite the voice who has been no more forthcoming with information, but instead just warned her to stay inside.

Let it never be said that Reiko doesn’t have a petty streak.

Reiki kicks at a rock, and suddenly there’s an immense pressure pushing her down. She gasps as she hears that same ominous howl and sees a monster rise above her. It’s black, with a grotesque, white mask that doesn’t behave quite like a mask should. The jaws move with the monster’s and Reiko has never seen anything like it.

Reiko tries to run, but her legs just won’t move! She trembles as the monster, ‘hollow,’ the voice whispers in resignation, bats her body to the side. Pain shoots through her, then stops. Everything stops for a moment.

And then Reiko stands up, unencumbered, but still in danger. She looks down, and sees her own body. Reiko’s brow scrunches in confusion until she sees the broken chain.

Reiko suddenly remembers the monster, hollow, whatever. She looks up to see a man, clothed in black, run a blade down it’s mask. ‘Shinigami,’ the same tone of resignation is used.

The shinigami stalks over to Reiko, even as Reiko scrambles back in fright, and places the hilt of his sword on Reiko’s forehead. And then everything goes black.


	2. Reiko has 99 Problems and Becoming a Death God is Apparently One of Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reiko has some fun in the Soul Society and has some not so fun in the Soul Society.

Reiko wakes to a pounding in her head and the gleeful cackling of the voice, ‘Now normally, I would be a bit more upset that you died, but this just proved a little theory of mine, so don’t mind me.’ Reiko has questions. She ignores these questions for the sake of her sanity. With voices in her head, can Reiko even claim to be sane?

Reiko makes the wise decision to open her eyes and look around. Her surroundings are unfamiliar. She lies on a dirt road lined with run-down shacks. Reiko really thought that the after life would be nicer, but she was unfortunately disappointed. She decides that disappointment is going to be a common theme of her afterlife when her stomach rumbles.

“So much for never going hungry when you’re dead,” Reiko mutters as she stands up. The streets are deserted and she doesn’t see any stores anywhere. Even if she did, what would be the point. Reiko, after all, is completely broke.

She sighed then dusted off her pale lilac yukata that she had decidedly not died in and started to walk in a random direction. 

 

Reiko has a problem. Well, Reiko has many problems, but this one happens to be that she is completely, irrevocably lost. Reiko doesn’t know how, of course. She swears the street she woke up on is right over… there. 

It’s not. It’s a forest. ‘You should probably avoid the forest,’ the voice adds her oh so helpful input. Reiko notices that the voice is much more vocal since she died. A marker for her declining sanity? Probably.

Reiko’s stomach chooses that moment to rumble. Again. Reiko sighs. Again. Reiko has another problem. She’s absolutely ravenous. And lost. Completely and irrevocably lost.

 

 

It takes what feels like weeks of Reiko wandering the deserted streets of her afterlife when she finally finds other people. A marketplace to be exact. There Reiko encounters another problem. She’s broke. Hell, Reiko doesn’t even know what kind of currency the afterlife even uses.

‘Just steal,’ the completely nonchalant voice speaks up. Reiko twitches. As much as she hates to admit it, the voice brings up a valid point. Reiko is small, she’s sneaky. Why can’t she just steal? Morals, a part of Reiko’s mind protests. To hell with it, the larger part screams.

Reiko scouts out the situation. Pickpocketing is a bad idea. No matter how sneaky Reiko is right now, pickpocketing requires skill she doesn’t have. No, Reiko contemplates, her best option is to grab food right out of a stall.

Reiko watches a stall selling various fruits until the vendor is sufficiently distracted. Then, she makes her move. She nonchalantly weaves through the crowd up to a display of apples. Reiko purposely puts herself in the way of a man dressed in black, ‘shinigami,’ the voice sing songs. He knocks against her, pushing her directly into the side of the stall. 

Reiko throws her hands against the display to steady herself and discretely slips two apples up her long, loose sleeves. “Hey,” The shinigami? barks, “watch where you’re going.”

Reiko cast her eyes down, “Sorry,” she mutters and scurries off, the stall owner none the wiser. She smirks victoriously to herself once she’s out of the marketplace.

Pulling out an apple, Reiko continues to walk down a street in a completely random direction, likely to get completely lost once more.

Unknown to Reiko, sharp brown eyes watched the entire encounter. From her theft to her escape.

 

Reiko spends at least a hundred years in this fashion. Moving from marketplace to marketplace, stealing at every opportunity. Reiko learns to pickpocket during this time, and much to the voice’s bemusement, she’s fucking good at it. Well, after a few, ehem, incidents. Let’s just say Reiko can never go back to the western portion of the 63rd district. 

Reiko, who now has the appearance of a ten year old, gets cocky. It’s been a long time since she was caught doing anything, she disregarded the warnings of the voice, who has never been wrong before.

Reiko was running low on cash, she noticed with a frown. She sighed, no one’s even around to “reallocate funds” from. Reiko turns a corner, and bingo, a poor drunk shinigami. Jackpot. Brown hair tied back into a messy ponytail, scruffy, and with a pink kimono over his uniform, this man is a wreck.

‘Mm, bad idea, Reiko,’ the voice warns. Reiko internally scoffs. Like she won’t be able to pickpocket this sorry excuse of a shinigami.

Reiko walks up to the drunk shinigami and smiles. “Would you like a hand up, shinigami?” 

The man smiles and holds up his hand, “Maa, thanks.” She grabs his hand and pull. Reiko frowns, he’s a bit… heavier than she expected.

Reiko smiles sheepishly, “Ah, sorry. Seems like I overestimated my strength.”

He sighs and waves a hand in reassurance, “No matter,” and stands up. Completely steadily. A nagging feeling in the back of Reiko’s head tells her that this is a bad idea, but she ignores it.

Reiko reaches subtly into his pocket and removes his coin purse. She has it in her sleeve and is walking away when the shinigami grabs her wrist.

“Maa, I’d really like my money back, girl.” He smiles menacingly.

‘Shit,’ the voice whispers. ‘Quick, you know that thing with your Reiatsu you did when you were running from the undead mob? Do that, except channel it to your arms. I’ll lend you my power despite you not earning it.’ Reiko gulps, then does what she says.

Reiko watches in the same stunned amazement as the shinigami, just less obvious, as electric blue bands wrap around her wrists and lines of the same color extend down her hands. Then electricity sparks from the marks. The shinigami lets go in surprise.

Reiko jumps back, his coin purse falling out of her sleeve in her haste. A sharp look takes the place of the drunken look in his eyes. “I don’t appreciate being robbed, kid. However, you’re pretty talented, with you being able channel your Zanpakuto Spirit without a sword and all-“

“Hang on,” Reiko interrupts, “Zanpakuto Spirit? Do you mean the voice I’ve been hearing since I’ve been alive?”

The shinigami looks shocked for a second, then continues, “As I was saying, I’ll let this slide if you enroll into the Shinigami Academy. And well, if I don’t let this slide, you could get in a lot of trouble for trying to rob a captain.” His brown eyes glittered.

Reiko’s voice comes out a bit strangled, “I guess I really don’t have a choice then.”

“Wonderful,” the shinigami grins, “I’m Kyouraku Shunsui.”

“Moriyama Reiko,” I say shellshocked. Captain Kyouraku grabs me and takes off in some sort of Reiatsu speed technique. ‘I told you so’ my Zanpakuto Spirit snarks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to know what happened with Reiko in the western part of district 63, I’ll have a story up sometime on my tumblr. @an-actual-ocean
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Whose Idea Was it to Make a Kid a Death God, Anyway?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Entrance Exams for Shino Academy happen.

Kyouraku breezes past the gate guards of the Seireitei with a wave and dumps Reiko on the ground in front of Shino Academy. “You’re going to be taking the entrance exam, now! Good luck!” He shunpos off.

“Wait-“ Reiko calls, but he’s already gone. “What am I even supposed to do?” She groans as Reiko turns to face the Academy. A crowd of Shinigami and Shinigami hopefuls gawk at her. Reiko sighs.

Reiko approaches the registration table. “Uh, is this where I go to take the entrance exam?” She asks. The Shinigami there snaps his mouth closed and nods before handing me a packet of papers.

“Fill out the papers in there to the best of your knowledge and return them to me when you’re done,” he instructs brusquely. “After you’re done, you’ll receive a number and when your number is called you’ll take a practical. The practical consists of channeling your Reiatsu into a special device to test your Reiatsu levels and inherent control. Next, is the IQ test. The results will be posted in a week’s time.” Reiko nods and walks away.

Reiko stares at the forms in front of her. The questions are all easy enough to answer, but how to go about answering this one. Permanent Residence, it says. Reiko hums, and writes none. 

Reiko hands in her forms to the grumpy Shinigami at the desk and he hands her a slip of paper with the number 44 emblazoned on it. ‘That’s not ominous at all’ Reiko’s Zanpakuto Spirit sounded horribly amused. Reiko decidedly ignores her spirit.

Reiko finds a tree in the courtyard and decides to catch up on sleep while she waits. Reiko, however, doesn’t account for Shiba Kaien. “Hi!” He says with more enthusiasm than Reiko has heard since she died.

“Uh, hi. Who are you?” Reiko asks as she cracks open an eye to see a grinning teenager staring at her.

Still grinning, Kaien plops down next to Reiko. “I’m Shiba Kaien, you?”

Still eyeing him in exasperation Reiko responds. “Moriyama Reiko,” she introduces and vaguely remembers her mother lecturing her on manners. “A pleasure,” Reiko adds on belatedly.

“I thought I was going to be the youngest person here, but then you showed up, with Captain Kyouraku no less. I figured if I was freaking out about the exams you must be as well! Young examinee solidarity and all that!” Kaien starts rambling and Reiko quickly tunes him out.

“Examinee 42?” The Shinigami at the desk calls. Kaien jumps up.

“Good luck, Shiba,” Reiko softly calls out. Kaien turns back to look at her and gives Reiko a thumbs up. 

“Don’t worry so much, Moriyama. We’re both going to do fine!” Kaien gives Reiko a dazzling smile.

Reiko sighs and settles back to wait for her number. She hears 43 a little while after and then 44 is called. Reiko slowly gets to her feet and follows the Shinigami to a room with three other Shinigami in it.

One of the three Shinigami hands Reiko what appears to be a glass ball. “Channel your Reiatsu into this,” she says.

‘Easy,’ the Zanpakuto Spirit says. ‘You’ve already done this before without the ball, so blow them all away.’

Reiko takes a deep breath and focuses on the energy flowing beneath her skin. She channels it to her hands, then out into the ball. The ball starts glowing a sharp, electric blue. First softly, then the light starts to get brighter as Reiko channels more and more Reiatsu into the ball.

Finally, when the ball appears to be a small, blue star, Reiko stops channeling her Reiatsu. She makes eye contact with the proctors of the exam as she holds the ball at a steady glow. They nod. “You make go, examinee 44.” Reiko walks out of the room after giving back the ball.

The Shinigami who brought her to the first room escorts Reiko to a second, where she is handed a packet of paper and told to answer as many as possible in the span of an hour. Reiko begins and can’t help but to think that the test is ridiculously easy. Her Zanpakuto Spirit is obviously of the same opinion as she starts cackling hysterically in the back of Reiko’s head.

Despite how easy Reiko found the test, it was long. She had to scramble to finish the test within the hour. Reiko has a distinct feeling that her answers toward the end of the hour got progressively more sloppy.

As Reiko walked back into the courtyard, she saw Kaien waving at her. “Shiba? What are you still doing here?” Reiko asks.

Kaien throws an arm around Reiko’s shoulders. “Waiting for you, Moriyama. I noticed you didn’t really have any friends or family with you, so I figured you’d need a place to stay. You can stay with me!”

Reiko’s lips quirk upward. “Thanks, Shiba.”

 

A week passes, and Reiko and Kaien are anxiously waiting for the results. Well, Kaien is anxiously waiting. Reiko could honestly care less as the only reason she took the stupid exam anyway was to get out of trouble with Captain Kyouraku.

They finally get to the front of the line to get their results. “Moriyama Reiko,” the Shinigami starts, “passed. You also made the the advanced class. Go to that table over there to get your class schedule and dorm assignments.” He points to a table a little ways over.

Kaien waits until they have left the line and then shakes Reiko’s shoulder in excitement. “We’re in the same class! Isn’t that great?”

Reiko huffs out a laugh. “Sure, Shiba.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this didn’t come out yesterday. It was either write or go kayaking, and I never turn down kayaking.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Turns Out You Still Have to go to School Even When You’re Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reiko has an intresting day at school.

Moriyama Reiko might have overlooked one tiny, itsy bitsy, minuscule little detail about Shino Academy. Dorm rooms equal roommates. It’s not to say Reiko is a hermit, she’s just apprehensive about sharing living space with a stranger who will inevitably be physically at least a good ten years older than her.

Reiko, as soon as she meets her roommate, promptly decides that age doesn’t matter because Nekozawa Naomi is the most genuinely happy person Reiko has ever met, hell, even Kaien has his limits. At around 20 physically, Naomi has a joy for life, er death?, that Reiko lost when she actually died.

Naomi flipped her unusually pale yellow hair over her shoulder as she introduced herself. Reiko never managed to draw her eyes from Naomi’s gold locks. Reiko’s Zanpakuto Spirit snickered. ‘Ah, young love…’ the spirit sighed. Reiki ignores this.

“Uh, yeah. I’m Moriyama Reiko,” Reiko responds distractedly. 

Naomi’s laugh sounds like bells. “Lovely to meet you!” Her ocean blue eyes twinkle mischievously.

 

The first day of school dawns bright and early as Reiko hurriedly gets ready. You see, her philosophy is to sleep as long as possible and screw everything else. In Reiko’s opinion, she did not get enough sleep.

Reiko hurries down to her first class, Advanced Reiatsu Manipulation, whatever the hell that entails. Kaien waves at her from a desk in the dead center of the room. Reiko winces at the location, but moves to sit by him anyway. Naomi isn’t in this class. Reiko feels a curl of disappointment forming in her stomach for some reason. And No, it’s not a crush. Reiko isn’t in denial or anything.

“I didn’t see you at breakfast this morning!” Kaien says with his normal exuberance as Reiko sits down. In Reiko’s opinion, it’s much to early for any kind of cheerfulness.

“Why eat, when you can sleep?” Reiko yawns in response. Kaien lets out a scandalized gasp and looks like he’s about to start lecturing his fellow classmate about the importance of breakfast when the professor walks in, crimson eyes narrowed in and her short, black hair swishing around her ears.

“All of you rookies really made Advanced Reiatsu Manipulation?” The instructor let out a crazed grin. “Now that won’t do at all! I’ll tell you what, you can stay in this class if you manage to imbed your Zanpakuto Spirit into an asauchi by-“ she hums contemplatively- “let’s say, the end of the week!” An audible gulp was heard from the rest of the class as my own Zanpakuto Spirit giggles at my luck.‘You’re lucky, Reiko, that I like you and will be willing to do this small favor for you!’

“My name is Shinse Airi, and I’ll be your teacher for as long as you manage to stay in my class!” Her sharp grin grew sharper, “And to all of you who manage to meet my standards, I’ll also be your Kido instructor!” That is… a frightening concept.

“Uh… Shinse-Sensei?” A student in the back of the room starts, “when do we get asuachi?” 

Airi huffs. “Damn, way to ruin my fun. I was going to explain in a very dramatic fashion, with the oppropriate build up to the dreaded realization that you rookies don’t actually get asuachi until the Zanjutsu class, but oh well.” And with that she began a long, rambling lecture turned discussion over Reiatsu Theory.

 

Luckily for Kaien and Reiko, who actually had similar class schedules strangely enough, their next class was Zanjutsu. The only real difference was that Reiko was in Basic Zanjutsu and Kaien was in intermediate. “The only reason I’m not in Basic with you is that I’m from a clan. I’m expected to know the basics.” Kaien says as they part ways.

Reiko huffs. “Yeah, yeah,” she waves him off, “I’m not actually that mad about it.”

The Basic Zanjutsu instructor was a tall man with a scar over his left eye. Reiko’s first impression of him was gray. His hair was stormcloud gray, eyes a shade or two darker, and well, to put it politely, his skin was a bit ashen. “I’m Hoshiyori Suiku, and I’ll be teaching you,” he managed to say before he yawned. “Now, today you’ll be finding your asuachi, which is basically your Zanpakuto’s vessel. All asuachi are uniform and they change to suit you when your Zanpakuto takes up residence in them.” He starts to go down the line of students, handing them a basic katana with a black handle. 

“When you receive yours, try to channel a bit of Reiatsu into it. If you’re lucky, your Zanpakuto will only require that to become fully realized, others might take a little work,” Suiku instructs as he hands Reiko an asuachi. She does as he says and her Zanpakuto cackles. ‘I’m about to make these losers lose their minds,’ she whispers.

Reiko’s asuachi starts to glow a startling electric blue as actual sparks of electricity start flying off the blade. It elongates to a slightly longer than average blade, then curves a bit toward the tip. The handle shifts to a deep plum purple with silver accents. The entire class is staring at Reiko. “Uh…” she sweats nervously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ItEotS is a bit hard for me to write right now, because there’s no actual plot happening right now. That’s the reason for the late update. 
> 
> In other news Shinse Airi is an actual goddess and she wasn’t even planned.
> 
> If you want to keep up with any extras that I post check out my tumblr! @an-actual-ocean
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	5. The Protagonist Gets Sick of Her Protagonist Luck Ver Quickly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Problems arise.

The rest of the day passes Reiko in a haze of stares in whispers. The only bright spot is sharing Seireitei History with both Naomi and Kaien. Unsurprisingly, the two get on like a house on fire.

And when Reiko says house on fire, she means house on fire. “Hey, Reiko, Naomi, y’all want to come over to the Shiba compound for dinner?” Kaien asks. 

Reiko nods her affirmation as Naomi replies enthusiastically. “Sure!” Unfortunately, a duo of Shinigami chose that moment to approach Reiko. 

“I’m sorry Moriyama, but that won’t be possible,” the brunette woman says as she approaches.

“The Captain Commander would like to see you immediately,” her companion, a man with black hair tied into a loose bun, follows up.

Kaien shoots Reiko a worried glance as she motioned to the two Shinigami, “lead the way.”

 

Reiko had to admit that the Seireitei was gorgeous in an austere way. She had never been this far in before. All of the barracks were a clean white with brown roofs. Uniform. Impersonal. Kind of like most of the people who live there, she muses.

The duo of Shinigami (Dumb and Dumber, dubbed by Reiko’s Zanpakuto at their refusal to introduce themselves) lead Reiko up toward the very center of the Seireitei, which, true to the dramatic nature of most Shinigami that they’re in vehement denial of, is where the First Division barracks are.

Reiko finds herself at a set of imposing double doors as Dumb and Dumber knock. ‘So which one is which,’ Reiko ends up asking the Spirit as they wait for an answer.

The Zanpakuto Spirit hums. ‘I’d say the woman is Dumb because she looks like she has a personality outside of work. Dumber looks like he’s perpetually stuck with a stick up his ass.’ Reiko promptly winces at the visual, but concedes it’s apt.

The doors creak open and Reiko feels like she’s supposed to feel intimidated, but is really just… not. She figures that it might have an affect if she hadn’t been disillusioned by how little the Gotei 13 really pay attention to the Rukongai districts. Hell, Reiko’s been causing havoc out there for close to 100 years and the only time anyone important has ever had a problem with it was when she tried to rob a captain!

Reiko walks into the room with all the confidence a physically 10 year old can have, which is to say quite a lot. 10 year olds are naturally cocky. She does a quick mental headcount, and yup, all 26 of the most powerful Shinigami in the Soul Society are in the same room as her. Well, 25 and Kaiden’s uncle Isshin. The man might be a captain but Reiko can’t really picture him as particularly powerful. He’s just… such a loser.

Directly in front of Reiko is an old man covered in scars and has the longest beard she’s ever seen. He practically radiates power. ‘Please, for the love of all that is holy, don’t piss that man off,’ her Zanpakuto Spirit warns. 

The Captains and Lieutenants are all staring at her, Reiko notices uncomfortably. The old man, presumably the Captain Commander, clears his throat. “Moriyama Reiko, your Zanpakuto?” He holds out his hand expectantly.

Reiko grips her sword tightly and eyes the man suspiciously. “Why?” 

‘Listen, Reiko, I know I told you not to piss him off, but whatever he wants with me can’t be good. The only reason you’d be called to a Captain’s Meeting like this is if I, and in extension you, were a potential threat to the Soul Society. Trust me, you do not want to see what they do to potential threats.’ A hazy memory flashes through Reiko’s mind of Shinigami slaughtering people wielding glowing blue bows. 

While Reiko was spaced out, the Captain Commander stood in anger. “Don’t question me, child,” he snapped. “Now hand over your Zanpakuto!”

Reiko’s eyes flashed with irritation. “You’re asking me to hand over a piece of my soul, with no explanation! Forgive me if I’m somewhat hesitant to comply!” Spiritual pressure built as the Captain Commander attempted to reign in his temper and Reiko stared defiantly at him.

Suddenly Captain Kyoraku steps forward. “Captain Commander Yamamoto, Moriyama does have a point. She obviously has a strong connection with her Zanpakuto, possibly to the same extent of a seated officer. No one would ever ask a seated officer to hand over their Zanpakuto.”

Yamamoto considers this for a moment. “Captain Kyoraku, what basis do you have for this assessment?” He asks coldly.

Kyoraku winces. “About that, when I first met her in the Rukongai, she was able to manifest her Zanpakuto’s elemental nature,” he explains.

A collective intake of breath is heard throughout the room. ‘Nice of the peanut gallery to contribute something,’ Reiko’s Zanpakuto grumbles. Reiko, despite the tension in the air, is barely able to keep a straight face.

Yamamoto scowls. “You didn’t think to mention this earlier?!” His voice thunders across the room. 

Kyoraku’s face fades back into nonchalance. “Maa,” he shrugs, “didn’t think it was important.”

There was a suspicious sounding cough from the white haired man next to Kyoraku. Then, a dirty blond man wearing a green bucket hat stepped forward. “I can explain it to her, if you would like, Head Captain,” he says, diffusing the situation.

Yamamoto sighed, then sat down. “Go ahead, Captain Urahara,” he said as he waved his hand.

The blond man grinned at Reiko. ‘Slimy Car Salesman,’ Reiko’s Zanpakuto muttered. 

‘Uh, what’s a car?’ Reiko mentally asked back.

‘Eh, not important,’ the question was brushed aside.

“Well,” Captain Urahara starts, “we’d like to test the stability of your Zanpakuto. Electric type Zanpakuto historically tend to go insane, driving their wielders insane as well. The stronger they are, the faster it happens. We don’t know why it happens, only that it does. So, what you’ll need to do, is stab your Zanpakuto into this doll,” he grabs a human shaped thing from somewhere behind him, “and it will manifest your Zanpakuto Spirit!”

‘I may not like this,’ said Zanpakuto Spirit begins, ‘but I don’t really see any other way out of this.’ Reiko reluctantly nods.

Urahara claps his hands together, “Excellent!” Reiko hesitantly walks over to where Urahara was holding out the doll. She drew her sword and stabbed it through the chest of the doll. 

Sparks flew from Reiko’s Zanpakuto and into the doll. Color started seeping into it until Captain Urahara was holding a teenaged girl by the hood of the strange jacket she was wearing.

Urahara quickly released the girl, and she stood up to her full height. She straightened her teal jacket over her skintight pants made from a strange dark blue material that were shredded up the front. Her light reddish brown hair was pulled into a loose ponytail, skin was lightly tanned and she had freckles across the bridge of her nose. Reiko caught her assessing dark brown eyes as a sharp, mischievous grin spread across her face. 

“Well, this is uncomfortable!” The impish grin grew as she turned to face Captain Commander.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so no actual real plot is happening right now, but for that I’d have to go back and rewatch the show and I don’t have time for that right now! But, hey! I finally got a chapter written!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	7. Reiko is bored and the author solves all pacing issues with time skips

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reiko gains some insight.

Reiko always knew the voice in her head was going to get her into trouble, she just hadn’t quite realized how much trouble. The devil may care attitude combined with total lack of reverence that the Zanpakuto shows in the face of 26 powerful beings however, was a bit unexpected. 

Jamming her hands in the pockets of her jacket, Reiko’s Zanpakuto rocks back onto her heels. “Well,” She motions for the Head Captain to begin speaking, “weren’t we going to test my stability?”

Urahara hums. “Hypothetically, if you were to be released from the confines of Reiko’s inner world, what would you do?” He asks pointedly. Reiko stares at her Zanpakuto in curiosity.

The spirit contemplates for a minute. “Well, I suppose I would just hang around Reiko and irritate her. I’m part of her soul, it’s not like I can just abandon her.” She says mildly. 

Yamamoto eyes both Reiko and her Zanpakuto. “That loyalty is astounding, especially considering that Moriyama doesn’t even know your name,” he addresses the Zanpakuto.

The Zanpakuto shrugs. “I mean if I told her my name, she’d be able to hear it, but her body won’t be able to handle the stress of my Shikai form.”

“Interesting,” Urahara mutters, a calculative gleam appearing in his eyes. 

“Well,” Kyoraku says lazily, “Moriyama‘s Zanpakuto is probably just as sane as ours.”

A man with black hair pinned back mutters something along the lines of “ That’s not comforting” at the same time a dark skinned woman with a purple ponytail grins and says “That’s not saying much.”

Yamamoto sighs. “Alright, send her back to Moriyama’s inner world.”

Reiko starts as Urahara grabs the handle of her Zanpakuto’s vessel. Then her whole body is alight with tingling electricity. A scream rips its way out of her throat. Then, Reiko’s Zanpakuto is back in her head whispering ‘I’m sorry’ over and over again.

 

Naomi eyes Reiko strangely when she gets back to their shared room. “You alright?” Naomi asks.

Reiko just nods, then collapses in bed. Her eyes open to see mountains of black glass and a night sky filled with colorful stars. Her Zanpakuto Spirit sits on a rock in front of Reiko.

“I thought this might happen,” the spirit groans. “By pulling me out of your inner world, you are now able to enter easier. You need to learn control if you ever want to get a restful night of sleep.”

Reiko looks horrified at the prospect. “How do I get this control?”

The spirit sighs. “I guess you should know my name to start with, just promise you won’t use Shikai until you know how to handle the backlash of a lightning natured kido.” At Reiko’s nod, the spirit introduces herself. “I’m Raiu. Now focus on my name and separate my identity from your own.”

Reiko hesitates. “Why do lightning natured Zanpakutos tend to go insane?”

“It has something to do with the nervous system.” Raiu looks away. “If you ever earn my Bankai, I’ll tell you more.”

Cocking her head to the side, Reiko asks “Nervous system?” 

Raiu looks startled for a moment. “Ohhh,” she rubs her eyes, “I forgot you don’t know a whole lot about the human body and how it works. You can get like, I don’t know, neurology sparknotes (Ha! Sparks) when you get bankai.”

Making a confused sound, but knowing that Raiu probably isn’t willing to explain more, Reiko takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. Slowly but surely she starts separating aspects of herself and Raiu. The world goes black and Reiko fades from consciousness.

 

Reiko’s school days pass in monotony after the incident. Captain Shiba doesn’t mention anything when Kaien drags her and Naomi to dinner with them, and for that Reiko is grateful. They haven’t even started real kido training, Shinse is apparently still trying to kick people out of her class. Reiko moves up to intermediate zanjutsu with Kaien once she’s made it obvious she can use a sword. Not that Kaien is going to be in intermediate much longer, but oh well.

The Nekozawa family is one of the many clans sworn to serve the Shihoin, so Naomi skipped a year as family ensured she knew everything already. The gossip circles around the school say she’s already guaranteed a seated officer position in squad two once she graduates. Reiko doesn’t know how much she trusts this, but from what she’s seen, Naomi is definitely skilled enough.

The first break in Reiko’s daily monotony was when Shinse started teaching kido. They start with bakudo. Reiko has issues with bakudo number one: sai. Issues in the manner of way overcharging it and almost strangling her partner, who is usually Kaien. Shinse says it’s a result of having a “fuck ton of reiatsu,” and focus on only channeling a small amount.

Hado number one turns out slightly better, if only because the only thing being injured is a training dummy. Long story short, 11 have found their way into trees and have still not come down and Reiko occasionally sends more flying. Shinse can be heard despairing over having to teach explosive kido.

The second break of monotony comes when Reiko is taught Byakurai. Shinse grumbles “how the hell is finicky Byakurai the one low level kido you can do easily,” when Reiko is successful on the third try. Reiko just shrugs.

‘Well,’ grumbles Raiu, ‘don’t use Shikai if you don’t need it, because it is still pretty damaging, but now I won’t kick your ass in the inner world if you end up needing it.’ 

The third break is when Kaien and shortly after, Reiko, are moved to advanced Zanjutsu. Getting to advanced in both of the first year started disciplines means that a student is eligible to start the disciplines started in the second year: Hakuda and Hohou. Needless to say, this is just what an incredibly bored Reiko wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh, filler chapter is filler. Still have no clue what I’m doing with this, so don’t expect regular updates. But yeah, not suuuper happy with how this turned out, but hey, I needed to update this. Even if said update is short and kinda crappy, it’s here!
> 
> Ps: chapter title is basically how this story is going to go until I get to the turn back the pendulum arc, just a little less of Reiko being bored


End file.
